Buddha, a well-known and credible philosopher, once said, "There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed." Lorraine Hansberry very successfully portrayed the evil of greed in her novel A Raisin in the Sun. A story of a family that is influenced by the malevolent power of money, A Raisin in the Sun teaches readers about how a family can be torn apart by riches. When each family member dreams of his or her plans for the money, the family transforms from one solid unit into a pack of people fighting against each other in the hopes that their dreams will come true. Generational conflicts are apparent through the characters of Mama, Walter Lee, and Travis, all members of the same family, but very different in their own right.
             It has often been said that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Mama is a character to which this adage is applicable. "Oh- So now it's life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life-now, it's money. I guess the world does change." (Hansberry 74) Mama does not understand the generational importance of money because it was not a major factor during her era. Because money is such an important element in this play, the difference of opinions about it adds unnecessary conflict. "No... something has changed — you something new, boy. In my time we were worried about not being lynched and getting to the North if we could and how to stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity too...Now here come you and Beneatha talking 'bout things we ain't never even thought about hardly, your daddy and me. You ain't satisfied or proud of nothing we did. I mean that you had a home; that we kept you out of trouble till you was grown; that you don't have to ride to work on the back of nobody's streetcar-You my children-but how different we did become." (Hansberry 74) Mama is visibly disturbed by the importance of money in modern society and t...